Freedom Works Here.
Sitting neatly along South Dakota Highway 34 is the quiet town of Howard. With just under 1000 people, the county seat for Miner may be small but is packed full of opportunity.
With a wide range of businesses, including agriculture and health care, it’s no wonder that dozens of companies call Howard home.
A major contributor to the Howard economy is Horizon Health Care. The facility began 45 years ago with three clinics and today is in 22 communities and is headquartered in Howard. The health care facility has over 300 employees and had a $52 million economic impact on South Dakota in 2021 due to its large footprint. Horizon employs 57 people at their Howard location, 38 of whom live in or around the community, making Horizon one of the top five employers in the town.
An industrial park on the edge of town houses three businesses that employ over 150 people. Two additional businesses have plans to open in town later this year. The sale of a spec building in the industrial park will house another company that has decided to move to Howard. Additional growth, throughout the community, continues as an old meat processing plant was renovated and today, employs over 35 employees.
Howard is currently looking to expand its business district with the addition of value-added agriculture and manufacturing businesses as well as service industries.
“We are going to be looking at a number of good businesses that pay good wages and benefits for our community,” said Randy Parry, Howard Industries Board Member.
Growth on Howard’s Main Street is evident with a new building going up that will be home to four new businesses.
“This will be a major improvement to the town of Howard and provide more employment for people,” said Parry who noted that Howard has 60-70 businesses within the city limits and several others just outside the city.
